Technology update

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March 2003

Rolls-Royce's Vision for the future

Of all the major industries in the world, some could argue that it is aerospace that is among the most demanding, not only in terms of developing advanced technology but also for the necessity of looking far into the future. As the 100th anniversary of man's first powered flight approaches, that necessity remains a priority. Rolls-Royce operates a clearly delineated time band approach to this need. First outlined at Farnborough International 2002, it is called Vision5, Vision10, and Vision20, anticipating—and planning for—the needs of aircraft operators from near term (about five years) through medium term (approximately a decade) to the 20-year time horizon and beyond. Added difficulties with this sort of planning are the potential variabilities of customer and legislative requirements and market change that evolves as specific environmental issues take on greater or (very occasionally) lesser importance. Some technologies may be developed with enough forethought to be placed "on the shelf," ready to be implemented when needed; but timing all this is a highly complex task, mixing engineering, marketing, and many other skills and expertise.
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